The loss of a gaming friend

[Dawg]

I am sorry to hear of this loss. My wishes and prayers to his family.

[andyofne]

Originally Posted by Dawg

I am sorry to hear of this loss. My wishes and prayers to his family.

My friend Allen was just 38. He was not married and had no kids.

His parents are dead. His brother is dead as is his sister.

He had no family living anywhere near him and it took the 'authorities' a few days to find a next of kin.

I know, like me, Allen spent a good part of his free time on the computer gaming with his friends but he also had a tight nit circle of real life friends with whom he gamed with at LAN parties and went to the shooting range.

It's terribly sad to think of how lonely he was for lack of family. He never really shared much about his family or lack thereof, though we did speak about his deceased mother a few times. I never realized just how alone he was.

His obituary read:

Allen Roberts, 38, passed away Friday, March 7, 2008, in a local hospital.

Allen was predeceased in death by his parents, William and Barbara Roberts. He was an employee of the Chattanooga Aquarium.

Allen is survived by an aunt, Mrs. Louise Bain, in Oxford, Ala.; and an uncle, Joseph Pointer.

[Tempus]

I thank God for my family every day. I don't think that I've missed a day since... I can't remember when. it's sad to hear of some one who has no one, but the virtual world can be a comfort sometimes. It's not a real substitute but it can pass in a pinch.

[Lotharr]

I know this is a Johnny-Come-Lately response to this, but I am very sorry to hear about this Andy. It is sad to hear about someone passing on so young.

I'm sure most of you have heard about Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University professor who was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer last year. There was a Diane Sawyer special with him on television this week, in fact. Randy participated in an annual event at CMU called "The Last Lecture," which is traditionally an academic exercise for a faculty member; "If you had only one lecture to give to your students - what would you tell them?" In Randy's case, it was literally going to be his last lecture... and what he had to say really makes one put things into perspective.

I posted it on my site if anyone wants to watch it... it's well worth the hour it takes to view it. (It's on YouTube if you want to see it there).

I actually have a mantra I took from this: "Be a Tigger - not an Eeyore." For me - that's really hard to do, but I just think about Randy and it's a real motivator.

Sorry again Andy - I pray Allen will be at peace.